As a result of my posting about the latest ARRL board issues, someone forwarded to me the 2024 annual reportby Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF, who is the ARRL’s First Vice President. In this report, which was published on the PVRC mailing list, K1TWF addresses many of the issues ARRL board, including:
- What is a not-for-profit and what does that mean for the way that ARRL conducts its affairs
- The highly unethical nature of the “Shadow Board”
- The meaning and importance of Board transparency
- Equal representation for our members
- Restructuring the Ethics and Election Committee
Shadow board
Perhaps the most troubling thing in this report is what K1TWF calls the “shadow board.” He writes,
Over the last two years or so, [the board has] developed what I call a “Shadow Board.” Those on the Shadow Board, roughly 10 Directors, apparently meet periodically to discuss Board matters, including proposed motions and actions. The remaining Directors are excluded along with the other Board officers. To the best of my knowledge, no formal reports or minutes of these meetings have been prepared, and certainly not shared with the rest of the Board.
This is highly unethical, and highly damaging to the Board and to the League.
He goes on to say,
It is wrong, it is unethical, it is harmful to the League and its membership, and it needs to stop. NOW.
How might we protect the league from things like this in the future and make clear to our members that we take representing them seriously? I would propose something like this in the standing orders:
“Whenever a quorum of the Directors meets, in person, virtually, or mixed, the meeting shall be announced to the entire Board and access to the meeting shall be given to all Directors, Vice- Directors, and Officers.”
Board Transparency
In the section on board transparency, he tackles the issue of the seeming obsession with secrecy. He writes:
So, what is the real reason for the Board’s obsession with secrecy and confidentiality? As mentioned above, it is clearly the desire to avoid embarrassment (and perhaps even accountability?). This raises a HUGE RED FLAG. We’ve all experienced embarrassment and it isn’t pleasant, but fear of embarrassment is also a very important signal that warns us when we are on a path that is ill advised, unethical, or worse, and that requires some serious rethinking.
An indication of this obsession with secrecy is that last summer the board pout into place a measure designed to make calls for roll call votes harder to accomplish. It used to be that a single director could call for a roll call vote. Now, it takes five directors asking for a roll call vote for one to be taken. The end result is that the members know less about how “their” national association is being governed.
Ethics and Election Committee
He also addresses some of the issues associated with the Ethics and Election Committee. He points out that “on big issues our Ethics and Elections committee has been an almost total flop, and in some cases, have “fueled anti-League rhetoric and damaged the reputation and stature of the Board.”
One of the solutions that he proposes is for the ARRL to hire a third party to investigate ethical issues. Apparently, other groups are already doing this. Another approach would be to recruit “3 individuals who have served, but are not currently serving, as Director, Vice-Director, or Board Officer.”
Parting comment
I really am saddened to have to report all of this, but as Raisbeck say in his summary, “These are challenges not to the body of the League, but to its soul.” I hope that the board will do the right thing here, and that we can make some real progress on addressing these issues.
As always, I’d love to know what you think.